>> this is "bbc world news america." funding of this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation, and kovleroundation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. >> planning a vacation escape that is relaxing, inviting, and exciting is a lot easier than you think.yo can find it here in aruba. families, couples, and friends can all find their escape on the island with rm, sunny days, oling trade winds, and the crystal blue caribbean sea. nonstop flights are available from most major airports.ma more infon for your

vacation planning is available at aruba.com. >> a now, "bbc world news." laura: this is "bbc world news america." reporting fromashington, i am laura trevelyan. russiaeclares a dailya p use in the syrian government's assault on eastern ghouta. the airstrikes. five hours a day, allowing aid in and people out. six months after hurricane etharvey hit houston, we rn to hom wrecked by water to find out how people are recovering. and as u.s. curling fansa' celebrate a's first-ever nsympic gold, we find out if the sport is going maieam.

laura: welcome to our viewers on public television and also around the globe. starting on tuesday, the people of eastern ghouta in syria will get a break from airstrikes and bombings for five hours a day. iassia has declared that 's military will suspend its bombardment of the rebel-held area. during that time, aid can be delivered and civilians evacuated. in monitoring group says more than 500 people have been killed in the area in the past week. the white house is calling for an immediate e. to the viol rerter: it is not what the -fn. agreed, but russia's version of a ceaire is the best chance for survival for those who call eastern ghouta. --those who call eastern ghouta me. more than a week oshelling has led to the deaths of 500 people, oft from tomorrow, russia will

order a daily paus the shelling so civilians can escape. yet another sign of just how much sway russia has in the war. the truce may take attention away from the securityil's earlier resolution, which no exact start date, looked over before it had begun. >> resolutions are meaningful if they are effectively implemented. that is why i expect the resolution to be immediately implemted and sustained, particularly to ensure the fmmediate, safe, unimpeded, and sustained delivery humanitarian aid and services. reporter: from tomorrow, this is what civilians in eastern ghouta will try to escape. this fooge shows the aftermath of a suspected chlorine attack. it shows young children struggling to eathe the use of struggling to breathe.

using chlorine gas is weapon is banned under international law. this is an enclave of the law iy where the rule of difficult to implement and harder to enforce. isrussia earlierssed allegations that the syrian government was responsible. for hundreds of thousands ofap civilians d without basic food or medicine, they are surrounded by syrian forces closing in. if they are allowed to leave, ftheir future will be farrom secure. next month marks seven years since violence first erupted in syria, and still the calls for peace have beedrowned out by the blasts of war. laura: mark my spoke earlier with -- for more, i spoke earlier with brian katulis, a senior fellow for national security at the center for american progress. how significant is it that it is fssia ordering this pause bombing in eastern ghouta? it is not the u.n. security

council cease-fire. brian: o no, it is far sho what the u.n. voted on this weekend. it is a small portion of the country, whereas the resolution said the entire country for 30 days, and the russians, along with the assad regime, still have free reign to bomb wherever they want. they will likely do this if we look at past performance. they will continue to define who they see as terrorists quite broadly and use all sorts of scorched-earth tactics in syria. laura: this is uerlining how dominant russia is. it is the dominant power alongside syria in that area. brian:ol aely. they along with iran have punched far above their weight in large part because of the passive the like -- has a of other forces like the united states, like european countries, who will say a lot of things

diplomatically, and secretary of state tillerson gave a speech a month or so ago about syria, but by and large the united states enhas been a bystander to and has allowed russia, iran, ked the assad regime to re syria in a devasting way. laura: do you think this will make a diffence in syria, this five-hour daily pause in the bombardment? brian: it might have modest impact for some people, but what we have seene, befhen the syrian regime bombedma hunitarian convoys in 2016 with russia watching them do that, they use aid as a weapon of war. they will continue ts use all sort means, military and aid, to attack who they see asti their opposion. laura: we saw the appalling pictures of what was happening in eastern ghout the white house said assad was put on notice some time ago. there was that one airstrike by the trump administration againsr the syrian mil does the u.s. have any influence? ian: it could if iwanted to,

but it dsn't appear to want to. there is no serious debate in america today about syria. the trump administration has a rhetorical approach peeches and saying it is putting actors es thatce, but bes strike in april of last year, there doesn't seem to be any impetus for effort at all for e u.s. to engage in a serious way. laura: if eastern ghouta falls to the syrian government, what will the state of the war be? brian:he state of the war has multiple fronts. we talk out syrians having two sides in the civil war. there are so many other actors, and it has acted like a vortex that has sucked in powers like turkey and iran. the war will go on, unfounately. and unless there is a sense of justice anstability in some places, it could go on for many more years. laura: brian katulis, thank you for joining us.

brian:nk tou. laura: china's president xi jinping is inching closer to becoming the country's most powerful leaders since chairman mao. the ruling communist party wants to remove a clause in the constitution whicht says presidents can only serve two five-year terms. how beijing correspondent john sudworth has more. john: its no secret that xi jinping has been tightening his grip on power. this is just the most recent display of tubthumping military loyalty. but now i defining moment has beeneached. state media reports of closed-door party meetings coirmed that the two-term limit is to be scrapped. there is nothing to fear, hissu

orters argue. mr. xi, the benevolent father figure, is staying on for the good of the nation. >> china has become such a developed country. e middle class is increasing om wealths well as the theynd. i don't think anyone in china, either in or outside of chronic party, would sit tight to allow the return of a despot or tyrant backnto the political stage. john: but one ruler still casts a long shadow. chariman mao. -- chairman mao. the two-term limit was introduced after his death to keep journey at bay. an activist jailed for mildss dit in the past is one of the few daring to publicly criticize the change.a >> iader stays in office too long, and if power becomes

too eventually power becomes evil. john: for most people, criticism is best kept in thehadows. the striking of just a few words from china's constitution markli the biggest cal shift in decades, with far-reaching implications. out our regular, orderly transitions, as the world's second-largest economy finds itself in the hands of a man with total, unfettered power indefinitely. behind the appearance of rength lies the risk of instability -- a rising superpower has just torn up itse ok.ud johnrth, bbc news, beijing. cements hisdent xi power, rivalinghairman mao. saudi arab's king salman has sacked several military

commanders. the heads of the air and ground forces were among those dismissed. the move comes as e war in 70-ledwhere the coalition is fighting the rebels, near the end of his third year. a mother and her children have f narrowly escapire in houston. sromantic picturesw how they managed -- dramatic pictures show how dementiget out. no one was hurt and everyone is counted for. rome hn its first snow in six years. the so-called beast from the east is bringing freezing temperatures, disrupting , canceling trains and flights. authorities wanted more freezing weather is on t way. -- worn that more freezing weather is on the way. six months ago the worldsiatched as a m storm hit houston, texas. hurricane harvey killed more than 60 ople and 40,000 had to flee their homes as the water poured in. the devastating flooding led to many questions, not least, did officials do eugh to prepare?

i reported on the hurricane's impact, and i have just been back to see how the city is faring. houston underwater -- this is the catastrophic flooding caused hurricane harvey.ec as rd rainfall saturated the city, deluging neighborhoods, turning lives upside down. >> we are home. you ready? you know you are home? otah, we home, baby. laura: it is an nal moment for gloria. clutching snoopy as she shows us where she was rescued from as the floodwaters rose. >> it was devastating. i jus'ouldn't believe -- im still looking at it and it is still hard. laura: gloria's home of nearly 20 years wasninhabitable, and she didn't have flood insurance like thousands oothers in houston. now gloria is living in a hotel paid for by the federal emergency management agency. but she doesn't feel safe. >> i had to barricade myself in here every night, because

ere's so much going on out there. prostitution every night. driving by here oht, they shot 9 or 8 times at this hotel, and i had to get on the imoor. laura: gloria, whact has it had on you personally being out of your house the past six months? >> i am on medicine for depression. i had got to the point where i really wand to die. i asked god to take me home. laura: volunteerfrom a houston charity are helping to rebuild gloria's home. nopefully she can return march. >> mother nature did what she did and we are helping people recover as quick as we can laura: federal officials are trying to help the 4500 houstona lies like gloria's get back home. >> people expect someone to fix it.s fema'le is not that. we want to help everybody every way we can as quickly as we can,

but in doing that we have to be mindful of the taxpayer dollars we are spending. okura: here is how this well-to-do suburb when i was here in august. the neighborhood was submerged as officials let water out of the nearby reservoir to stop and overflowing. dan d virginia did not have flood insurance, and they are still trying to rebuild. >> six months on, we're still not home yet. we vacillate between wondering, do we want to be in this house, or do we just want to start ov mewhere else. >> i describe it as a rollerte coof emotions. it was the horror of being rlooded and evacuating you house with two small children and a dog. it is the craziness of the last six months trying to rebuild your life. laura: the next hurricane season only four months away. this is a sprawling coastal

city, with bayous like this vulnerable to flooding. is anything being done to defend houston against fure hurricanes? >> this is a storm that did not discriminate, whether you were poor or affluent. the waters came and you were impacted. laura: the mayor of houston knows only too well how exposed his city is. protecting it is a long-termoj prt. mayor turner: it is important for the city to take steps to mitigate the risk ofing. if they are living close to a ba ou, it needs to be expanded, there needs to be more detention basins put in place. laura: that is little comfort to gogloria, who is waiting t home, traumatized by hurricane harvey. >> every time i look at the clouds i get real scared. i say, god, please don't let it flood again. laura: hurricane harvey destroyed homes and lives. but houston is rebounding, the road to recovery is a long one.

houston is coming back, but it is tough. u are watching "bbc world news america." still to come on tonight's program, team usa's moment on the ice. how curling's success has led to fevered interestn the sport back home. search -- research finds that 70% of millennials, i those born between the late 1980's and early 1990's, could be oh please by the type -- obese by the time they reach age 40. 3 there are almo million people living with a diagnosis of the condition in the ukraine alone. here is what the chair -- in the u.k. alone. he is what the charity has to say about it. >> what is the biggest preventae cause of cancer after smoking? >> thinking? -- drinking?

>> obesity. >> yeah. reporter' cancer research uk' on a mission to let people know that being overweight as an adult could leado 13 different pes of cancer. for ny dental kong as a shark -- for many that will come as a shock. heart disease and diabetes are traditionally associated with obesity. the charity says that cancer is also a risk. >> it is important to out the messag there. it is about 18,000 cases a year and rising. that is about 5% of cases each year. reporter:t ae same time, research indicates that millennials, people born between the early 198's and 1990's, art the most overweight generation since records began. seven out of overweight or obese between the ages of 35 and their mid-40's.

the focus now is persuading people to switch from junk food like this to a healthier diet. to make that change happen, oncwantsa banh uk junk tv tv adverts -- rtadbefore the nine at 5 9:00 p. laura: the democratic republic of congo is facing an uncertain future. critics say the president has overstayed his time in power and oppositions of quotas have taken to the streets demanding fresh elections. violence in different parts of the country have dpeven differenle from their homes. the bbc has more. theotonly have each

r. in the past, they ran for two days after the village was attacked. their parents are gone so they have to fend for themselves. hereing has erupted between rival ethnic groups. but when i asked the boys which tribes they belonged toey, had no idea. children have taken the brunt of the conflict. she has lived through war before and knows what it is like to run away from home with nothing. she has opened her doors to over 40 pple. but can't look after all of them. >> the government needs to assist them so i can help them more. this places out in the open, and they feel cold.

there is no mattress, no food, clothes. reporter: the fighting is happening out here in the countryside. its too remote and too dangerous for aid agencies to reach. some have stayed behind, but not out of choice. abandoned. is now .here are no more masses the catholic church is one of the most powerful institutions here in the democratic republic of the congo. nunsfact that priests and have flood is the sign of the level of insecurity in the region. she has spent her life farming, but now she can barely find food to feed her children. she can't afford to go to the safer times. -- town.

>>kn w the situation is difficult here, but what can we do? trwe cannoel empty-handed without money. it is too far to travel. that is why we are forced to live in this crch. across the drc, nearly 5 million people have been driven from their homes. president joseph kabila has delayed election, leading to a power vacuum and a web of conflict. the u.n. has its biggest peacekeeping force in the country, but it is struggling to attack civilians -- protect civilians. the government does not seem ready to take responsibility. the only person who would talk to us is the army spokesman, when he says the fighting is in their problem for now. >> this is not a military missn. it is more about public order and is committed by the police.

if authorities believe the situation is getting worse, the army would take comman reporter: meanwhile, like many children, country sliding further into chaos. now all nine of the gold medals won by the u.s. in south korea are special, but there is one that stands out.me for the first ver, team usa won gold for curling. f a men's team pulled stunning upset to beat sweden. for more on the big moment, i spoke to the president of a maryland potomac curling club. a american curling enthusiast, what was it like for you and your club members seeing the americans take the gold? >> we were over the moon about it. er were expecting a competitive game, but it wastight most

of the game, and then fi-pointer at the end, the place you opted -- place erupted. every curling club in the united states open at that time was doing the exact same thing. laura: speaking of curling clubs in the united statesour phone ringing off the hook? >> yes, literally it is ringing off the hook. i must have taken -- i was at the club of myself a couple dayn ago and it wasng off the hook constantly. we want to try curling, we saw it on television. we want to get my kids involved. it has been constant. laura: what is this thing to do foprofile of curling in the united states -- this medal, this profile, and the fact that there are even fans like mr. t? >> it is obviously going to amplify the sport. comy hope is that curling s a sport that garners a lot more respect than it had before, and ideally we will see more dedicated curling clubs in the united states.

there isn't a single metropolitan city up until -- the five most populous cities in the united states don't have a curling club in the city limits. all of them are playedey on ho ice where they are in the suburbs. they are in the suburbs. sei would like tmore clubs built in the cities and have more people come in. laura: tell us about the appeal of curling. >> it is very sttegic. there is a cerebral part people enjoy. it is a sport that looks like anybody can actually do. you don't need to be 6'7", you don't need to squat 500 pounds. typically e oldest olympians on teams are the curlers. you can play at a very high level even at an older age. i find it is an exciting sport. laura: i did once try it. there was success by the scots a few years back. i found it was much more difficult than you would think. >> it is. you are activating muscles you

normally' 't activate in other sports. it is a balance between strength with sweeping and balance with sliding and anaerobic athleticism. it hits all the points. laura: how much credit does the. team deserve? they had a couple of verynt disappg olympics, to the .oint it was a verb >> they had a poor showing in 2010 and 2014, but this year they deserve all the credit they can possibly get. they worked very, very hard in this ompic cycle. they self-funded themselves fo a bit, they had to backdoor their waiting to get i high-performance program. they have been playing their keisters off, and it showed on the ice. it was a wonderful thing to see them succeed as they did. laura:ou thanko much for joining us. >> my pleasure. laura: whacould curling become

america's ne pastime? watch out with sweden and norway. i am laura trevelyan. you for watching "bbc world news america." >> with the bbc news app, our vertical videos are gned to work around your lifestyle, so you can swipe your way through the news of the day and stay up us date with the latest headlines you can t. download now from selected app stes. >> fundi of this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation, and kovler fouation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. >> planning a vacation escape that is relaxing, inviting, ana exciting is t easier than you think. you can find it here in aruba. families, couples, and friends can all find their escape on thd isith warm, sunny days, cooling trade winds, and the crystal blue caribbean sea.

nonstop flights are availableai from most majoorts. more information for your vacation planning is available at aruba.com. >> "bbc world news" was prested by kcet, los angeles

b captioning sponsored newshour productions, llc enivasan: good evening, i'm hari sreenivasan. judy woodruff is away. on the newshour tonight... >> we'll turn our grief into action. we have to have action. >> sreenivasan: ...president p trump pussure on congress for gun reform in the wake of the florida school shooting. then, power grab-- china's communist party moves to abolish term limits, allowing president xi jinping to stay in office for alfe. and, som struggles to its feet-- a surge in u.s. military presence pushes the militant group al-shabab out of the east african nation, but not without complications. >> the u.s. military's involvement in the war here in somalia happens in the shadows.s thatome people worried about accountability. >> sreenivan: all that and more on tonight's pbnewshour.